Chapter 602 92: [Do You Dare to Go One-on-One With Me?]

Kwame Brown felt as helpless as a fish swimming upstream.

He was powerless, but he had to stay strong.

Because if he wasn't strong, Kobe would yell at him, verbally assaulting him. Phil Jackson would talk down to him too, saying things like he wouldn't let Kwame hold his kids.

'Who gives a damn.'

In Kwame Brown's mind, these top basketball minds were all rotten. Jordan had crushed him, Kobe hadn't let up on him, and Phil Jackson was the same way.

He thought Su Xi was a pretty decent guy. At least there were never any rumors about him mistreating his teammates. All of his teammates sang his praises, and every player who teamed up with him performed exceptionally well.

Even Milicic had gone from a bust to a legendary center.

'Why couldn't I have ended up with Goat Su Xi?'

'I want to shake off this "bust" label too.'

'It's not a label I wanted. Jordan forced it on me.'

'If I hadn't been picked by the Wizards, if I wasn't the number one pick... I'd still have been a lottery pick. I wouldn't have made much less money, and the pressure wouldn't have been nearly as intense. Maybe I really could have made a name for myself!'

Kwame Brown had a rich inner life. Both he and Lamar Odom were players with a lot of drama in their heads, so they often lost focus.

Fortunately, the current Lakers had Yao Ming and Kobe, so it didn't matter if they had occasional lapses in concentration.

Kobe took on Su Xi one-on-one. He showcased his offensive skills at their peak, and while Su Xi's defense was practically flawless, Kobe still found an opening to shoot.

But instead of shooting, he passed the ball to Yao Ming. Yao took the pass, spun, and sank a hook shot.

This left Su Xi exasperated.

He said to Kobe, "Was that really necessary? You're just passing for the sake of passing."

"No. I'm passing to break you down," Kobe told Su Xi. "I want to see just how tough your nerves are."

Kobe said to Su Xi, "Come on and beat me, Goat!"

Su Xi replied, "I've never heard a request like that before. But I have no intention of satisfying you. Beating you is something I accomplished a long time ago. Now, I'm going to destroy you."

Su Xi brought the ball up the court and immediately drove to the paint, avoiding a direct battle with Kobe.

Lamar Odom instinctively moved to help on defense.

Su Xi quickly passed the ball out. Stephen Jackson caught it, but Kobe had already rotated over... he had anticipated Su Xi's pass.

But it was no use. Just as he got there...

Jackson whipped the ball to the corner.

Su Xi was already there. He took the shot... SWISH!

The three-pointer was good.

After briefly helping on the trap, Lamar Odom ran around like a chicken with its head cut off, failing to rotate to the next man.

Odom was known as an all-around player, said to be capable of playing all five positions.

But that kind of praise often concealed another fact: his positional awareness was inconsistent, and his presence on the court could simply vanish.

Kobe angrily reminded Odom to focus up.

Odom nodded.

He promised he would.

The game continued.

Kobe once again isolated on Su Xi, then passed again. This time he passed to Odom, who drove to the hoop but missed the layup. However, Kwame Brown overpowered Randolph for the putback.

Kwame Brown did have his uses.

He was physically strong and had decent defensive instincts.

If he just put in the effort, he could be a top-tier blue-collar center.

Zach Randolph was unhappy about giving up the offensive rebound.

On the next possession, Su Xi passed him the ball. He showed off his fancy footwork, shaking Kwame Brown. Randolph went up for the jumper... THUD!

It missed.

But he quickly crashed the glass and, with help from Milicic, grabbed his own rebound and put it back in.

The Lakers and Knicks were trading blows.

The game was a nail-biter.

Meanwhile, the commentary from CCTV was positively jubilant.

To people in the United States, this was a premier showdown between two major cities from the East and West.

But for Chinese fans and pundits, it was impossible to choose a side. No matter who won, it would be a great victory for Chinese basketball.

As a result, their voices were filled with joy and excitement.

"The Lakers are running their offense through Yao Ming, while the Knicks are being led by Su Xi. This year's Finals are a huge event for our fans back home. No matter which team wins, we're the real winners. Coach Zhang, who are you rooting for?"

"I'm supporting Yao Ming. I feel Da Yao deserves a championship. He entered the NBA a year before Xiaosu, and he was a higher draft pick. If Da Yao gets a championship ring, then we'll have three players with rings."

Coach Zhang said.

The other player in that count of three was Bateer, who had won a championship with the San Antonio Spurs.

However, Bateer was no longer playing in the NBA.

In fact, some people joked that Chinese players had held a monopoly on the NBA championship since 2003.

Now, that joke was proving to be true.

After Bateer, Su Xi won three championships. This year, regardless of whether the Lakers or the Knicks won, a Chinese player would be hoisting the trophy.

"I'm still hoping Su Xi wins it all. Why? Because I feel Su Xi is the leader of the Knicks. If the Knicks win the title, he'll be the Finals MVP. If the Lakers win, the MVP will most likely go to Kobe. I'd rather see a Chinese player win the MVP award."

"Of course, and most importantly, Su Xi has already become the God of Basketball in Asia, but he still hasn't quite won over everyone in the United States. People still think Jordan's two three-peats are more impressive than Su Xi's three-peat achieved with two different teams. But what if Su Xi pulls off a personal four-peat?"

"Winning a fourth consecutive title with two different teams, and being named Finals MVP for all four. Wouldn't that be more difficult than Jordan's two three-peats?"